


Cops and Robbers

by JuniperLemon



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Building Relationship, Crime, Detectives, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Police, Romance, Slow Burn, detective tony, mob boss steve, mobboss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23149786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuniperLemon/pseuds/JuniperLemon
Summary: Detective Tony Stark has been investigating Steve Rogers, crime Lord, for months but he can’t seem to get a handle on the man. However, as their relationship develops into something more, Tony has to choose between his job and the man he had grown to love.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 5
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

“Do I look foolish enough to trust you?” Tony spat, his eyes holding their ground in the stand off. 

“I’ll let you in on a secret, Mr Stark... I don’t trust myself either.” Rogers stood up from the interrogation table whilst sliding his jacket onto his muscular shoulders in one smooth movement, “But my word is all you have. Good day, Officer.”

The harsh lighting caused the gang leader’s swollen cheekbone to glisten as he rose from the table and left. The image of the criminal’s ruffled blond hair that feathered over his forehead would stay with Tony for longer than he thought would be necessary.

The door clicked closed behind the man and Tony allowed himself to drop his head against the table, disheartened. After over 6 months of tracking the gang leader, the detective was still no closer to an arrest and Steve Rogers seemed to know that. 

He huffed out a breath of frustrated air and gathered the documents that had managed to spread the full length and breath of the cold metal table. It seemed like so much evidence against the violence-driving and drug-producing criminal but somehow Steve managed to make everything seem merely circumstantial and Tony knew that would not fly in a court of law. The man had good lawyers that seemed to make every case crumble. 

His commanding officer was going to absolutely murder him since, once again, he’d been unable to capture one of the most dangerous men in the whole of New York. Sighing, he finished gathering his things and paced out to his Boss’s office ready for a dressing down. Tony only hoped that Captain Fury would go easy on him considering he would be beating himself up over this for weeks. 

Fury was disappointed in the result but seemed to dismiss it quickly which left Stark curious to what the man had up his sleeve. It was rare that Nick just let something slide. He lowered himself into one of the large chairs that sat adjacent to the mahogany desk which was littered with paperwork. Tony’s curiosity burned within him as he saw Captain Fury pull a case file out of a drawer on the desk. He didn’t wait long until it was revealed:

“Stark, the top brass are demanding more progress on the Rogers case. We need to start acting offensively in our evidence building. I need you to go undercover in a coffee shop close to Rogers’ hide out to try and get some more intel. At this point, any piece of information would help.” He passed the file across. It had details of Tony’s undercover identity and the coffee store he was to pose in.

Tony could think of one problem, “Rogers has seen my face... several times. He knows me.”

“Yes, but his affiliates haven’t and what is the likelihood of a mob boss collecting his own drinks?” Fury challenged and Tony had to admit that it was a logical argument, “Besides, nobody in the precinct knows Rogers and his operation like you.”

Tony nodded, “I’m on it.” 

Striding back to his desk, Tony was already thinking of the challenges that would lay in store over the next few weeks. He really wanted Steve and knew that anything to get more information would help.

———

A week later-

Somewhere over the last two days, Tony had had the violent epiphany that he was not made for the barista lifestyle; he’d burnt himself more times than he could count, got orders mixed up and even tripped and thrown close to boiling water over his boss. Luckily for him, being a barista didn’t have to be his calling but it was the calling of his fake identity, Marvin Short, and he’d donned glasses, worn a wig and shaved his goatee especially. Hopefully, the burns and general fuck ups wouldn’t give away his total inadequacy. 

The coffee place was nice though, he had to admit that. It was warm and cosy inside which was perfect in comparison to the drizzly gray weather he could see through their large bay windows. Even in his short time here, he’d managed to pick a table in the window as his favorite and that wasn’t just because it gave him a view down the street of Rogers’ warehouse building. Why did all criminals choose warehouses?

He passed a (probably wrong) latte across the counter to a woman in a business suit before sliding back up to the cash register. He allowed himself a second to wipe the counter before glancing up at the customer to get their order.

Looking up, he was about to open with his usual “Hi, what can I get you?” When his voice suddenly lodged itself in his throat.

Steve Rogers, gang leader and object of his stake out, was standing in front of him looking completely unphased. His blond hair was ruffled from the wind outside and flopped over his forehead as though it was a curtain for his striking blue eyes. The lighting of the coffee was several times more flattering than the ones found in the interrogation room. Tony tried to snap himself out of it as the man had begun to speak.

“Hi, just the usual. Black Americano. Thanks.” The man has placed his order and handed the cash (who still used cash?) across without even looking up at the barista, clearly absorbed in some other thoughts. 

“Name?” Tony asked, a sharpie hovering over the unblemished surface of the cup.

“Just Steve.” The man answered and moved again to join the queue of people waiting for their drinks. 

The steaming cup was done in record time and he’d taken extra care to ensure it was exactly right since this was the man he was trying to fool with his masquerade. Carefully, he placed the Americano down and slid it across whilst trying extraordinarily hard not to spill it. He coughed and lowered his voice to call, “Americano for Steve!”

The man came immediately and his hand was almost on the cup when Tony, maybe due to the thrill of being so close to fooling him or maybe due to stupidity, said, “Or maybe I should have called ‘Just Steve’.”

Steve frowned and peered up at the Detective as though he was gazing at an alien with several heads, “Why?”

Already regretting his brains inability to keep quiet, Tony lowered his head to prevent Steve from getting a good look at his face, “When I asked for your name you said ‘Just Steve’... it was a joke.”

Steve took the cup and stood for a moment. The silence encouraged the awkward tension between them until the mob boss finally said, “Okay then... Thanks for the coffee, Marvin.” The tall man spared a glance for the name tag. He turned and was gone in seconds, the ringing of the bell over the door was the only thing that proved that Steve had even been there.

Another customer laughed out of awkwardness, “Ah, that was awkward as hell... Anyways, do you know where my latte is? I ordered it twenty minutes ago.” Stark eyed the man with a frown before bustling off to make his shit attempt at a latte. 

If he wasn’t being forced to keep Tony, the boss of the coffee house probably would have fired him on his first day. And Tony would have agreed with the decision. However, he could only hope that Steve had been too distracted to notice him


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stark gets into Rogers’ base with frustrating results.

The rush hour chaos had passed some time before and by the time the cafe had recovered from the influx of customers it was dark outside. Tony was cleaning up for the night when he began to haul a bag of trash out the back to their industrial sized garbage cans. The door of the cafe clicked closed behind him and he was wielding the bag into the can when a large figure stepped out from the inky darkness.

“Shit!” Tony grasped at his chest, “Jeez, you nearly killed me, man!”

“Everything would be so much easier if I could kill you.” The voice muttered.

Tony squinted into the darkness until he could make out Steve standing only a few meters away. He suddenly knew that his ruse in the shop had been unsuccessful and Steve seemed to know what he was thinking.

“I spotted you before you had even stepped through the door on your first day.” He smirked, something sparkled in his blue eyes. 

“Thought you’d give me a couple of days to settle in before you stopped by to say congratulations on the new job?” Stark smirked back. Despite Steve’s reputation he’d never been scared of the man even though he probably should be. It wasn’t everyday that you came face to face with a criminal alone in a dark alley.

“If being a detective doesn’t work out for you, which it appears to not be going so well, don’t be tempted by barista work... that was probably the worst Americano I’ve ever had.”

Trying not to be offended, Tony steeled himself, “What do you want from me?”

“I could ask the same thing.” The man stepped closer until Tony could almost feel his warm breath against his cheek. His eyes were even more beautiful up close and they didn’t seem angry, just weary. Tiny drops of rain were collecting on his pale hair in perfect little pellets. 

“I have to do my job. I’m a good detective so I will get you.” 

Steve pouted, “Why ruin the fun? Especially when I can think of so many better things to do with your handcuffs.” A mischievous glint flashed in his eyes. 

For a moment the detective couldn’t respond as his brain was unexpectedly short circuiting; he knew he found Steve objectivity attractive but he hadn’t realised that the man could have such an effect over him. The man’s words held so much power. 

“My only fantasy is sending you to jail.” Stark realised immediately that his statement sounded lame and clunky due to his long pause and it made him look slow in comparison to Steve’s speed. Usually, Tony was the quick witted and cheeky one but the criminal was clogging up his brain.

Steve laughed slowly, “Good luck getting enough evidence for that. Are you free tomorrow? You’re welcome to come and visit us since you must be struggling to get any good intel from up the street here.” 

A crease formed between Tony’s brows, suspicion turned his stomach, “Why?”

Steve shrugged and began to walk back into darkness of the alley, “I like you. It’s fun to play this cat and mouse game.” 

By the time Tony’s mind had managed to formulate a witty response he knew that Steve would be long gone into the night. Probably off to do some crime or throw a tarp over anything even remotely suspicious at his building. 

Slipping back into the coffee store, he called his colleague, Clint, to see what he thought of the whole situation.

-

Clint had only one thing to say after Tony had spent twenty minutes explaining the situation to him, “You realise that you’re a mug, right?”

“What?” Tony fumed as he wiped down the tables and pulled the chairs up ready to sweep the floor.

“He’s always going to be two steps ahead of you as long as you keep playing into his game.” Through the phone, Tony could hear the familiar twing of a bow and arrow. Clint was clearly at the archery range, his usual after work destresser.

“How am I supposed to know what he expects me to do?” Tony rolled his eyes.

“Firstly, don’t sleep with the man. We know you, Tony. You sometimes struggle to keep it in your pants. And secondly, don’t allow him to manipulate you. Don’t go tomorrow as he’ll have staged the whole thing. Don’t go anywhere he invites you.” The man advised. This was all information Tony knew but simply often acted against his own advice.

Tony sighed, he knew Clint was right but he also believed that any information on Rogers’ situation in that building could only give them power. He knew he couldn’t be offended by Clint’s assumption about him sleeping with witnesses or others on cases as he’d accidentally done so a couple of times before and he couldn’t deny that Steve Rogers was one of the most attractive criminals he had even dealt with.

“Thanks, Clint.”

He could hear the archer lowering his bow, “I know you won’t take any of my advice but at least think about it, okay?”

They hung up and within an hour Tony had locked up the store and was heading home for the night. He could feel butterflies sprouting in his stomach and he tried to convince himself it was due to a progression with the case, not just the fact that he would be seeing Steve again tomorrow. 

—————

The next day Tony dressed and was ready to leave his flat in record speed. He didn’t want to admit it out-loud but he could feel the excitement and intrigue bubbling inside him. To avoid being ridiculously early to Roger’s office, Tony decided to grab a coffee from his store and settle down in the window seat with a great view down the street. He watched with interest as a few people came and went from the door he’d shortly enter in. 

The coffee was steaming hot but, due to his attention being sucked elsewhere, he periodically slipped on the caffeine even though it burned his tongue slightly. He’d probably notice it in a few hours when he tried to eat or drink anything else. Almost compulsively, Tony checked his watch every few minutes to ensure that time was passing in the right direction; the last 45 minutes had felt like the longest of his whole life. 

He sat, watched and drank until it was finally a social acceptable time to show up for a 9am meeting. Throwing on his jacket, Tony marched out the door and down the street to where the large warehouse was situated.

It was an old, red brick building with a small door on the side to admit visitors and due to Tony’s extensive research on Steve, he knew that it had once been a shoe factory. The windows were small and high but looked liked they had not been replaced since the original factory as they were thin paned and grimy. The detective strode up to the door and realised that there was nothing to indicate that the building was currently in use as no signage had been put up so Tony knew it was one of those ‘you know where to go if you’re in the know’ situations.

The knock on the cold metal echoed inside but he didn’t get a chance to consider the sound as the door was suddenly swung open to reveal a slim, red headed woman. Natasha Romanoff: she had also made several appearances in his case files but Stark could never pin her down or figure her out. What was she to Rogers? What did she do in the organization that he ran?

Intelligent eyes stared into his face for a moment before she stepped back from the doorway to allow him entry. She closed the door behind them and began speaking as she climbed the concrete steps up to the next level. Tony followed just as she knew he would.

“Rogers has been waiting for you in his office.” That’s all she said as she lead the cop throughout the cold and bare corridor. It was all cement walls and cement floor which was made worse by the fact that there were no windows in the corridor so harsh and flickering overhead lights was the only illumination.

“You guys should unionize. Get better conditions than this literal mouldy cellar.” He joked but Romanoff didn’t laugh or even react to him speaking. 

The door she stopped at seemed to appear almost out of nowhere on the wall since they’d been walking such a long stretch with nothing. Natasha took one last distrustful look in Tony’s direction before opening the door and entering.

“Rogers, Detective Stark.” The two criminals shared a nod, unspoken communication appeared to pass between them, before she turned and left the two men alone. Tony’s stomach flipped at the sight of Rogers in what must be one of his finest suits as he had to do a quick double take at the way it nipped in at the man’s slim waist. 

The room was large but felt warmer than the corridor due to the warm colored woods, rugs and bookshelves lining the walls. Would could imagine the room before the furniture but it wouldn’t have been a pretty sight. Behind the desk was a large window that overlooked what would have originally been the work-floor as it was a huge open room that, even today, had rows of tables and equipment lying around.

The boss stood from behind his desk and strode over to the cop, he held out a large hand and offered a reassuring smile, “Detective, I’m so glad you could make it. We’ve been looking forward to your visit for some time.”

Stark frowned, “We only arranged this yesterday.”

Steve chuckled, “We only arranged it with you yesterday.” He gestured to a large leather chair that sat adjacent to the mahogany desk and Tony sat obediently.

“How’d you know that I would come?” 

Rogers passed back behind the slab of wood and lowered himself down onto his own chair. Pinching his lips together for a moment, he shrugged, “It didn’t seem in character for you to refuse especially since you’ve been spying on us for months now. I know how it works, intel is intel.”

Tony got the feeling in his chest that he’d been played which he knew was almost certain before he entered but nobody like for it to be made so blatant.

Steve appeared to pick up on the cop’s unease, “Sorry for being so candid but I felt like it would probably be a good place to start for your tour.” 

Despite some of his past actions and mistakes, Tony wasn’t stupid but actually quite the opposite. He knew that Rogers would begin to interweave truth with lies to blend them together and conceal better. It was a typical charade that all Detective’s are taught to be aware of during their training as criminals could be just as smart as the Detectives questioning them. Although, Stark was smarter than most as he had finished school early and entered the Academy a couple of years early so he hoped he’d be at an advantage.

“Care to look around?” Steve practically purred. 

Tony stood and nodded in response. Rogers came close to him and rested a gentle touch against his lower arm and a smile grew on his lips. The cop was looking down at the contact in confusion until he looked up into the blue eyes and his heart skipped a beat. Back at the office they often played games about who had arrested the most attractive criminal and Tony knew that the day he got the mob boss would be the day he would win and would never be beaten.

The touch, his smile and purred words went to Tony’s head as the criminal said, “I’m especially pleased that you could make it. It’s always a pleasure, Detective.”

The reminder of his job title snapped Tony out of the trance as he was suddenly thrust back into the realisation that he was currently working a case and the extraordinarily attractive suspect was flirting with him but he must resist his charms.

They exited the office and headed further along the dingy corridor until they came to a another door that allowed them access to the production floor. Tony used the journey as a chance to question Steve slightly more. 

“So, what do you do here?” 

Despite not seeing the other man’s face, Tony could hear the laugh in his voice. It would have been almost undetectable if Tony wasn’t so familiar with his voice from so many interrogations, “We actually run a charity here. We offer work to down-on-their-luck civilians and veterans. It’s mostly just making little things that then get sold to pay their wages and keep them afloat until they can get established somewhere else. It gives them wages, good references and a reason to get up every morning.” They made it to the floor where tens of men and women were sat at the tables making anything and everything from lamp shades to baskets. Steve glanced at the Detective solemnly, “A program like this would have really helped me a lot when I first came out of the military.”

“Are you a registered charity?” Tony had been presented with the lie so now he just had to work at unwinding it even if it meant testing each stitch one at a time. 

“Yep, I’ve got the paperwork in my office. I’ll show you later.” It was a promise that Rogers remained true to some time later and it proved that they were legally registered as a charity, much to Tony’s surprise.

They passed throughout the rest of the large building without incident and most of the rooms appeared to be either staff rooms, offices or rest rooms. If Tony didn’t already know how crooked Rogers was he may have been tempted to drop all suspicion against the man as it seemed squeaky clean.

When the door closed behind him over an hour later, Tony blinked in the bright winter sun and felt blindsided by the experience. The building seemed too good to be true but every piece of legitimate paperwork he had requested Steve had produced quickly and without hesitation. He’d taken copies to double check at the station but he knew by now that he wouldn’t get anything on Rogers from that. The criminal must have some contact in the government to acquire such authentic documents or maybe he had really just fooled the US government as well as he did with Tony today. The only difference was that Tony walked into that building knowing that it would all be an illusion whereas how many people set up fake charities?

The Detective peered back up at the building before shaking his head slightly and beginning the walk back to where he left his car. He knew he had to get back to the station to break down everything that had happened with the team.

———

Despite the crackly quality to the recording, the voice was still undeniably dripping with charisma as it spoke, “Thank you, Detective. I’m very much looking forward to seeing you again.” You could nearly picture the eyes roaming up and down Stark’s body, or at least Tony could.

Captain Fury pressed pause and the click cut through the tension of the room which that last line of the tape had cultivated. The whole Detective squad was gathered around in the briefing room huddled around the small tape player.

Clint finally scoffed, “And they never checked for a wire? Sloppy.” 

Bruce chimed in, “They were clearly confident enough in their set up. I doubt this is their first inspection. If anything the wire just adds credibility on their part.”

Tony looked across at the other Detectives, “I did get the impression that it was a very well rehearsal show. They must do it semi-regularly to be so versed in all the knowledge. Even the workers answers all questions without a problem.”

Fury nodded in agreement and hummed in thought. 

Despite his best hopes, the recording had yielded almost nothing since the criminals were so well versed in their deception. Tony knew that eventually one of them would trip up or something would fall lose and he’d be there to discover it. Finally then, he would be able to arrest Rogers and his affiliates. 

Until that day, he’d just have to endure more interrogations and meetings with a dangerous man that somehow made his heart flutter.


End file.
